


Bonds That Bind Us Together

by WeirdyMcWeirderton



Series: Avery Series [2]
Category: Leverage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-07 01:51:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1880619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeirdyMcWeirderton/pseuds/WeirdyMcWeirderton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots dealing with each of the Leverage team bonding with Avery in their own ways. If you haven't read Tough Little Boys, you might want to in order to understand what is going on. Some swearing but not much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are just some one-shots that came to me about Avery bonding with the Leverage team. Enjoy!

Avery and Hardison

“Aw, no!” Hardison says from the living room area. Avery looks up from her bowl of cereal. Hardison has been playing a video game for the past couple hours and within the past fifteen minutes he had been getting more and more upset. Avery picks up her bowl of cereal and walks over to the chair, plopping down into it.   
“What are you playing?” Avery asks, watching the screen in front of her.  
“Lord of the Rings. And…come on!” Hardison says, interrupting himself with the exclamation. “I keep dying.”  
“Looks like you need some backup,” Avery says, looking over at Hardison.  
“What? You gonna be my backup?” Hardison asks skeptically, assuming she knows as much about computers as Eliot does. Avery shrugs her shoulders.  
“Don’t know much about it, but I’ll try,” Avery says, taking the last bite of her cereal and setting the bowl on the table next to her. She gets up and sits down on the couch next to Hardison. Hardison pushes some buttons and brings them back to the main menu, setting it up so it’s a two player game. He hands Avery a controller, explaining the basic functions.   
“You can pick whatever player you want,” Hardison says, automatically choosing Aragorn.   
“I wanna be Legolas,” Avery says, flipping through till she gets to the elf.   
“Legolas? Really?” Hardison says.  
“Yeah. He has a bow so he takes them out from far away and he has a sword so he can take them out up close,” Avery says, turning her attention to the screen. 

 

“You know if you do the moves I showed you, you can have stronger attacks,” Hardison says.  
“Why? Slicing them to pieces is just as strong, only easier,” Avery says, pressing the A button and slicing any ork that comes within reach. Sometimes the simple things are the best.”  
“There’s no art to what you’re doing. Coming up with combinations and putting things together is what makes the game worth playing,” Hardison says, pressing three different buttons and having Aragorn jumping into the air and flinging his sword to one side then the other, taking out three orks in the process.   
“You’re playing a video game, there’s no art behind it,” Avery says, hearing the door shut and footsteps walking towards them.  
“There’s no art behind what you’re doing either. All you’re doing is swinging your sword around,” Hardison says.  
“I’m aiming too. If you don’t aim you don’t kill them,” Avery argues.   
“You’re as bad as your father. You just take out anything in your path,” Hardison says.   
“I got you past that one level taking out anything in my path,” Avery points out. “Pretty that’s how you passed the past few levels.”  
“I could’ve passed those levels myself,” Hardison says, “It just would’ve taken a little longer.”  
“So, I just made this so much more easier for you,” Avery says.   
“No,” Hardison says. Avery raises her eyebrows.  
“Okay, fine. I’ll leave you to your artistic ability of pushing buttons,” Avery says, setting the controller on the table in front of her.   
“Come on Avery,” Hardison says, looking over at her, momentarily forgetting the game. Avery points to the screen, looking at him. Hardison looks back at the screen just in time to see him die. “No…!”   
“You were saying?” Avery asks, raising an eyebrow.   
“That’s not because you stopped playing. That’s because I wasn’t looking at the screen,” Hardison argues.  
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Avery says, grabbing her bowl and walking over to the kitchen. Hardison scoffs and looks over at who entered the apartment. Eliot is standing to the side of the couch, arms crossed and an amused expression on his face.  
“What are you smiling about?” Hardison asks grumpily.  
“Just trying to figure out what’s more entertaining. The fact my sixteen year old daughter kicked your ass in your video game or the fact that you’re trying to convince yourself she didn’t,” Eliot says chuckling.   
“It’s not a big deal really. I prefer to play Super Smash Brothers anyway,” Avery says, setting her dirty dishes in the sink. Hardison makes a face.  
“All you’re doing is pummeling people,” Hardison says.  
“Yeah so?” Avery and Eliot ask.   
“Disgraceful. The both of you,” Hardison mumbles, turning around in his seat and setting the game up for single player once more.   
“It’s not disgraceful when I save your ass pummeling people,” Eliot grumbles.   
“I can save…” Hardison begins, turning around to face Eliot once more.  
“Eliot, Hardison,” Nate says, walking in to the room followed by Sophie and Parker.   
“What?” Eliot and Hardison say in unison.   
“Focus,” Nate says, standing at the counter facing the screen. Avery smirks in amusement. Without looking away from the screen Hardison is setting up, “Wipe the smirk off your face Avery.”  
The smirk on Avery’s face instantly disappears and she looks over at her dad. Eliot sends her a smirk, amused she still got caught. Avery sends him a glare and smacks him in the arm. Eliot’s smirk grows and he gives her a playful shove, chuckling.


	2. Chapter 2

Avery and Parker

Avery shuts the door to the house, walking down the steps, searching through her backpack. She halts halfway to the street, beginning to frantically search through the mess in her bag.  
“Crap,” she says, sighing in exasperation. She walks back up the door and tries to open it, already expecting it not to. She lets out anther frustrated sigh. “Great. The one time I lock myself out of the house, dad’s has to be out of town helping a friend.”  
Avery plops down onto the steps, setting her backpack on the ground next to her. She runs her hand through her hair, pulling it out of her face in the process.   
“I am such an idiot,” Avery mutters, shaking her head at herself. She pulls out her phone and dials a number. “You know the world’s best thief and it takes you this long to figure out what to do?”  
“Hello?”   
“Hey Parker,” Avery says.  
“Avery? Why are you calling me?” Parker asks, confused. Avery smirks at Parkers’ question.   
“Um…I locked myself out of the house and dad already left to go out of town for the day,” Avery explains.  
“Oh…” Parker says, clearly not understanding what Avery is getting at. Then, as if it hits her suddenly, “Oh! You want me to come there and break into Eliot’s house? Sounds like fun. I’ve always wanted to break into his house but I think he would be really angry.”  
“Yeah, probly,” Avery says, smirking.  
“Give me ten minutes,” Parker says, hanging up the phone. 

 

Avery looks up from her seat on the steps and sees Parker walk up towards the porch. Well, more like bouncing towards the porch. Avery smirks to herself and stands up, meeting her at the bottom of the steps.   
“Thanks for coming Parker,” Avery replies.   
“No problem,” Parker says, “Think of it as your first lesson.”  
“You’re gonna teach me how to pick a lock?” Avery asks, eyebrows raised.  
“Yeah. It’s a lot of fun,” Parker says with a grin and leads the way up to the front door. Avery grins herself and follows Parker up to the door. Parker pulls out a lock pick set and hands it to Avery, who looks at her bewildered.  
“You…you want me to…?” Avery tries to ask, pointing at the door.  
“It’s easier to learn when you’re actually doing it,” Parker replies.   
“Okay,” Avery replies, taking the tools and kneeling in front of the door. She listens to Parkers’ directions and begins to attempt to break into her house.   
“What is going on here?” a sharp voice says, “I’m calling the police.”  
Avery quickly turns around and stands up, shoving past Parker. She sees a middle-aged woman with brown hair and eyes standing at the bottom of the porch steps, pulling out her phone. Avery quickly walks to the top of the steps and holds out her hands in a calming manner.  
“Mrs. Jackson. It’s me, don’t worry,” Avery quickly says. Mrs. Jackson looks up at her, confused as to why she is there and not at school.  
“Avery? Why aren’t you in school?” Mrs. Jackson asks, not putting her phone away just yet.  
“I was heading there, but then I realized I forgot my keys in the house,” Avery explains.  
“Where’s your father? Who’s this?” Mrs. Jackson asks, suspiciously.   
“He’s out of town for the day. He already left by the time I realized it. This is a friend of his, Parker,” Avery answers. Mrs. Jackson still looks guardedly at her, but Avery can see she’s starting to believe what she’s saying.   
“And she just happens to know how to break into houses?” Mrs. Jackson asks.  
“She works with my dad,” Avery explains.  
“Oh,” Mrs. Jackson replies, thinking this over. “Well, then. I’ll make sure no one else tries to call the police on you then.”  
“Thanks Mrs. Jackson. I really appreciate it,” Avery replies with an innocent smile. Mrs. Jackson nods her head and turns around, walking back to her house across the street. Avery turns around and notices Parker is kneeling in front of the door. There is a click and she stands up, opening the door with a grin. Avery returns the grin and follows Parker inside.   
“I thought it would be better if I actually unlocked the door since you told her all that stuff,” Parker explains.  
“Thanks again Parker. I really appreciate it,” Avery replies. Avery walks over to the counter, grabbing her keys and walking back over to Parker. “I should get going. I’m already late for school.”  
“You’re going to walk all the way to school?” Parker asks, “That’s kind of far don’t you think?”  
“Yeah, I guess,” Avery says, realizing Parker is right.  
“I’ll call Hardison,” Parker says, “He’ll take you.”  
“You really don’t…” Avery starts but trails off as Parker already has her phone to her ear.   
“Hey, Hardison. Can you come to Eliot’s house? I’ll explain when you get here. Oh, and Avery’s going to need a legitimate late note,” Parker says. She says bye and hangs up her phone, placing it back in her pocket.   
“Thanks Parker,” Avery says, “You think Hardison’ll be able to come up with a believable note?”  
“It’s Hardison,” Parker says. Avery smirks.  
“True,” she replies, noticing Parker pulling out a lock and her lock picks, taking a seat on the steps. Avery goes over and sits down next to her.  
“You want to finish that lesson?” Parker asks, smiling.   
“Sure,” Avery replies, smiling in return.


	3. Chapter 3

Avery and Sophie

Avery walks into the Leverage Headquarters and plops down on the couch, dropping her backpack on the floor next to her. She lets out a sigh, resting her head on the back of the couch. Sophie looks up at her from the table, curious as to what is bothering her. She closes up her magazine and walks over, taking a seat on the couch next to Avery.  
“Everything all right?” Sophie asks.   
“Huh?” Avery asks, looking up from her hands, “Oh, nothing.”  
“Doesn’t seem like nothing,” Sophie points out. Avery bites her thumb nail, thinking about what she should say. Sophie waits patiently, knowing she’s deciding what to say.   
“So, there’s this guy at school…” Avery begins, hesitating. “And…well, I think he likes me.”  
“Do you like him?” Sophie asks.  
“Yeah…” Avery replies.   
“But…?” Sophie prods.  
“How do you know when someone’s telling the truth and when they’re just saying stuff to get you to do something for them?” Avery asks.   
“Well, they won’t make eye contact,” Sophie begins, “But, if they’ve been doing it for awhile they might have gotten over that.”  
“Oh,” Avery says.  
“They won’t move their body a whole lot, only as much as they absolutely have to. And they’ll touch their face, throat, or mouth. For instance, scratching their nose or ear. More than likely they won’t touch his chest or heart with an open hand,” Sophie continues. “He’ll contradict himself or his timing will be off. Like, emotions will be delayed or stay longer than they should but then they’ll abruptly stop. Or, they’ll say something like “That’s great!” and then smile or frown when they say they love you. Usually their expressions are just with the mouth and not the whole face.”  
“Okay,” Avery says, taking everything in, mentally writing it all down.  
“He might get really defensive or he won’t face you directly. He might even unconsciously put things between you two. He might repeat your questions. For instance, you’ll ask ‘Were you home last night’ and he’ll say, “Yes, I was home last night’. Or, he’ll just imply answers instead of outright answering them. He’s also more likely to be telling the truth if there is a contraction, ‘didn’t’ instead of ‘did not’. He’ll provide an overabundance of details to try to prove to you he’s telling the truth. He might speak in a monotonous tone, mumble, or speak softly, although if he lies a lot he might have gotten out of that habit as well,” Sophie proceeds.   
Avery nods her head, still mentally taking notes, trying to remember everything Sophie is telling her. Sophie watches her for a minute before asking what is on her mind.  
“Why do you think he’s lying to you?” she asks. Avery looks up at her, surprised at the question.   
“Well, my friend Katy said he…gets around,” Avery answers, “I just want to make sure what he’s saying is true and not just…”  
“So he can sleep with you?” Sophie finishes for her.  
“Yeah,” Avery says.  
“That’s smart,” Sophie replies.  
“Yeah, well, I really didn’t want dad to end up in jail for murder ya know?” Avery says with a slight smirk. Sophie returns it hesitantly, knowing all too well he has actually killed people before. “Thanks Sophie.”  
“No problem sweetheart,” Sophie says, “You keep me posted okay?”  
“I will, I promise,” Avery replies with a smile, giving Sophie a hug. Sophie returns it, this time with a genuine smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Avery and Nate

Nate walks in to his apartment, seeing Avery sitting at the table, her back to him. He makes his way over towards her. Avery hears him walk towards the table and she quickly shoves the picture she was looking at into her folder. She wipes at her eyes, finishing just as Nate reaches her. Nate looks down at her, knowing something is up.   
“Hey Nate,” Avery says, “I didn’t know anyone else was here.”  
“I just got back,” Nate replies, noticing her red eyes. “You all right?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Avery says, sending him a forced smile.   
“What were you looking at?” Nate asks, nodding at the picture half hanging out of the folder.   
“Uh…nothing,” Avery says quickly, “I should go.”  
With that, Avery grabs her books and stands up, trying to make a quick escape. In her haste, she trips over the chair leg and her books go flying across the floor.   
“Crap,” Avery mutters, quickly gathering up her belongings. Nate walks over and helps her, putting the books and folders into a pile. He notices the picture lying on the floor and he picks it up, flipping it over and looking at it. Avery looks up and sees Nate is looking at her picture. Nate looks up at her and catches her watching him.   
“Is this your mom?” Nate asks.   
“Uh…yeah,” Avery replies, hoping he doesn’t ask any more questions. Nate nods his head, looking back down at the picture.  
“You know, sometimes it helps to talk about things,” Nate points out. Avery snorts.  
“Right, ‘cause that’ll bring her back,” she replies scornfully.   
“No, you’re right,” Nate replies, looking back up at her, not giving the picture back yet. He doesn’t want her to leave just yet and he knows once she has it back, she’ll take off. “But, bottling everything up inside won’t help either. You end up going downhill. Fast.”  
“And you’re such a professional at dealing with this,” Avery says defensively, not wanting to talk about any of this. Nate regards her for a moment before continuing.   
“I had a son,” Nate replies, trying not to get lost in his own despair. Avery’s head shoots over to him, not expecting this response. “He had cancer, like your mother.”  
Avery forces a swallow, watching Nate stare at a spot over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what had happened, so instead waited to see what Nate would say.   
“The company I worked for refused to pay for him to have an experimental procedure and he…uh…he, uh…well, it was one of the reasons why I was so involved in your mom’s case,” Nate continues.   
“Watching someone go through that? It can break your soul. Especially when saving them comes this close,” Nate says, holding up is pointer and thumb a half an inch apart, “But burying it and keeping all that pain festering underneath? It’ll destroy what you have with the people you still have left. Take my word for it.”  
Nate hands her the picture and stands up. Avery takes it from him and looks at it for a moment. She stands up, eyes never leaving the picture.  
“We were best friends,” she says quietly. Nate looks over at her, not sure if he had heard her correctly. “And then when I was ten, she got sick. I found myself growing up a lot faster than most. I had to take care of her. I kept up on the house and my schoolwork too. But she would always make sure I had time for myself.”  
Avery smiles to herself.  
“She…uh…made me take martial arts. Said if my dad ever found out his daughter didn’t know how to take care of herself he’d be pissed,” Avery says. “And, even though he wasn’t around, she never once spoke badly about him.”   
“He would’ve been there if he knew,” Nate says.  
“Yeah,” Avery replies. “She…uh…”  
“She what?” Nate prods when she doesn’t continue.   
“I never told anyone this,” Avery says, looking up at Nate. “Grate said she didn’t die of cancer.”  
“What?” Nate asks.  
“When he kidnapped me. He said she didn’t die of cancer,” Avery says, “He said he killed her ‘cause he couldn’t have her going to the police.”  
Nate watches for a minute, seeing her eyes begin to water. He was slightly confused as to why she was telling him this. Then, it hit him.  
“She could’ve still been alive,” he says, “She could’ve still had time to get better.”  
Avery nods her head, a tear escaping and trailing down her cheek.   
“Have you told Eliot this?” Nate asks. Avery shakes her head. Nate puts a hand on her shoulder and looks in her eyes. “As much as it’s going to hurt, you need to talk to your dad about all this. Don’t do what I did and ruin the one good thing you’ve got going for you.”  
Avery looks at him and nods her head, wiping her eyes once more. She puts the picture back in her folder and looks back at him.  
“Thanks, Nate,” Avery says, giving him a sad, but genuine, smile which Nate returns. He turns as he watches Avery exit the apartment, shutting the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

Avery and Eliot

“All right, check your mirrors, steering wheel, seat. Make sure everything is where it needs to be,” Eliot says. Avery does this, not without complaining though.  
“I still don’t see why I can’t drive the Challenger,” she whines.  
“Because if we’re gonna end up in the ditch, I’d rather be in this thing,” Eliot says, gesturing towards his Chevy Silverado.   
“We’re not gonna end up in a ditch,” Avery argues.  
“All right,” Eliot says, ignoring her comment, “Check behind you. If no cars are coming ease out onto the road.”  
Avery checks behind her and, not seeing anyone coming pushes on the gas. The truck lurches forward and onto the road. Eliot grabs onto the dash.  
“Stop! I said ease…” Eliot begins only to spring forward when Avery slams on the brakes. “What are you doing? I said ease onto the road.”  
“I did ease onto the road. It ain’t my fault your gas pedal is touchy,” Avery counters.  
“And the brakes?” Eliot growls.  
“You yelled stop!” Avery argues.   
“Yeah, ‘cause I didn’t want to be in a head on collision,” Eliot returns.  
“No one was even coming,” Avery growls back.   
“Fine, just…don’t push on the gas so much,” Eliot says, taking a deep breath. Avery rolls her eyes, but checks behind her anyways and slowly pushes on the gas, easing her way onto the road. 

 

Avery puts on her right turning signal, gently stepping on the brake pedal. She begins turning onto the street.  
“Turn…Turn…Tur…” Eliot says, giving up and grabbing the wheel and jerking it to the right further just in time to miss the car sitting at the stop sign. He shoots Avery a look that would have accompanied a growl if there was one.  
“I was turning,” Avery says, putting on the gas a little.  
“Not enough,” Eliot says.  
“Well, sorry,” Avery replies.  
“You would think this is your first time driving or something,” Eliot says.  
“It is,” Avery replies quietly. Eliot’s head turns towards her.  
“What?” he asks.  
“It is my first time driving,” Avery says again, this time a little louder.  
“You never learned how to drive before this?” Eliot asks, knowing she had been sixteen for a little while before he met her.  
“Well, yeah. Mama never really had time to teach me. She…was in a lot of pain…so I never bothered her about it,” Avery says, making sure to keep her face towards the road for more than the obvious reason. Eliot watches her for a moment.   
“Well, in that case, you’re doing a pretty good job then,” Eliot says, looking back at the road.   
“Thanks,” Avery replies.  
“Just…next time you make a right hand turn, turn the steering wheel a little sharper,” Eliot says a softer than his earlier tone. He was beginning to see that his daughter had missed out on quite a bit growing up taking care of her mom. 

 

“Start slowing down,” Eliot coaches, Avery listening and responding. “Slowly pull into the parking lot. And remember, right hand turns…Good.”  
Avery pulls the truck into the parking lot, pulling into a spot, and puts it in park, turning it off and handing her dad the keys. Eliot takes them from her and hops out of the passenger side. Avery opens her door and climbs out, shutting it behind her and walking over to her dad.  
“Better. You’re getting there,” Eliot says, giving her a smile.  
“Does that mean I can drive the Challenger next time?” Avery replies. Eliot laughs and heads into the bar and leads her into the elevator. “Dad? I can drive the Challenger next time right?”  
Eliot gives her a looks but doesn’t answer. The elevator dings and the two of them exit, walking over to Nate’s door and entering the apartment. Avery huffs and follows her dad inside. Nate and Sophie look up from their seats.  
“How’d the driving lesson go?” Nate asks.  
“Towards the end? Not too bad,” Eliot says. Nate raising an eyebrow. “The beginning was rough.”  
“Yeah, dad was freaking out,” Avery replies, plopping onto the couch, all but pouting.   
“I was not freaking out,” Eliot argues.   
“Really?” Nate asks, interested.  
“I was not freaking out,” Eliot reiterates.  
“This Eliot?” Nate asks, pointing at Eliot. “The one who has taken on drug lords, assassins, other hitters, and more without so much as a blink was freaking out teaching his daughter how to drive?”  
“I was not. Freaking. Out,” Eliot says, punctuating each word. Avery smirks and Nate chuckles as Sophie, Hardison, and Parker enter the apartment.  
“What’s so funny?” Parker asks.  
“We were just talking about how Eliot was freaking out teaching Avery how to drive,” Nate says nonchalantly.   
“I wasn’t freaking out!” Eliot growls.   
“Eliot was freaking out?” Hardison asks.  
“Eliot freaks out?” Parker asks.  
“Did he get that twitch in his eye?” Sophie asks. Eliot throws his hands up in the air.  
“I give up,” he says, walking away from the group and disappearing into the next room.   
“Oh, and to answer your questions. Yes, yes,” Avery says, looking at Hardison, then Parker. She turns to Sophie with a grin, “And definitely yes.”  
“My eye was not twitching!” Eliot voice shouts from the adjoining room. The group chuckles and look at Avery who is grinning and nodding her head mouthing, “Yes, it was.”


End file.
